


Cinderella's Guide to Prince-Catching (And Its Faults)

by the_word_chemist



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: I put seungmin in the next grade up just because, I wanted there to be a backstory to the beginning lmao, M/M, a strong wind could blow most high school boys away, allosexuality is not my forte, also im an asexual girl trying to write through the voice of whats supposed to be a gayTM teen, also slang? is that what we call this?, and i say that chris is a scrawny string bean, but australia would make more sense cause aussie line, but high school yknow?, but seungmin just has the kind of voice for it dont @ me, but yknow yeet ig, cause those are woojins children here lmao, eh you decide, football jock woojin, for chris its obvious lmao entrance is a b o p, fun fact i literally have no idea how to write dialogue, he seems like the string bean teen kind of guy, hi yes i just made an executive decision chris and seungmin speak french now, i can't decide if this is supposed to happen in australia or america, i dont know i respond, i take french i know what im talking abt yeet, i'm so freaking bad at writing holy cow, im basing the grades off my school system here in the US, im probably not gonna mention the younger ones for a while except seungmin, is this gonna focus on seungmin or chris you ask, it doesnt really matter to the content of the story, laugh please i promise im funny, like speaking? whos she? idk her lmao, maybe i just speak english stupidly, music nerd chris, ok we all know how buff chris is but consider, okay so i lied and the younger ones are appearing Right Freaking Now, so pardon my french if this is wildly inaccurate, so yeah string bean chris ftw whos with me?, the only thing similar about me and my character are age, the rest of them are pretty much what they are irl, theres a reason i only write fluff lol, theyre in high school and i can make them however i want, you all know what i mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-12-26 14:42:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18284363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_word_chemist/pseuds/the_word_chemist
Summary: The art of prince-catching is a subtle one, requiring quite a skill set and unwavering determination. One needs to be cunning;"My friend thinks you're hot.""Fuck off, Seungmin."Grace and balance goes a long way;"Fuck! I'm sorry, I'll get napkins, that's on me, I-""It's really fine, I promise. I needed an excuse to throw away this shirt anyway..."Everyone knows princes like someone who's hard to get;"Woojin has a better voice than anyone ever and I'd let him decapitate me and shove me out a window if he was singing the whole time.""Chris, shut up, I've heard every rendition of this you've thought of and I really need to study."There's the final touch, though; a kiss at midnight so he doesn't forget you;"Oh god, my mom’s gonna flay me alive if she looks in my room. I need to go!""Don't I at least get a 'good night' kiss?"Oh, and don't forget! Never tell him your name. It'll destroy the mystique you've carefully crafted around yourself, and he won't want to find you after the ball;"Hi, it’s Woojin! Nice to see you...""Chris! My name's Chris."Follow these steps and your prince will find you soon. Good luck, and happy hunting!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to what I previously dubbed "How to Catch a Prince"! I wanted to change it up a little, so here's the finished product so far~ I have no idea if this will go well or not, but this is just something I thought up on the road probably, so here we are now. Also I'm not very happy with the summary but eh, what can ya do? Happy reading, and thanks for checking my work out!

Step 1: Find a prince. There’s no way to catch something that doesn’t exist!

~

“Oh, _fuck_ me.”

Seungmin raised his eyebrows. “You wanna rephrase that, Chris?”

Said boy sat up straight when he realized he’d spoken aloud. After failing to tear his eyes away from the object of his attention, he addressed his friend. “Not really, no,” he replied, and Seungmin choked on his water and coughed. He squinted at the high school junior and followed his line of vision, sighing when he realized who it was falling on.

“Dude, it’s literally been ten minutes since school started. How are you already drooling over Woojin again?” He had put down his book in favor of talking to Chris, but was quickly debating picking it back up at the look on his friend’s face as he stared unabashedly at the football captain across the classroom.

-

Chris had harbored feelings for Woojin since middle school, even before he knew the rest of his friend group. It started as just a friend-crush, something along the lines of “oh-he-seems-fun-and-friendly-I-wanna-befriend-him”. Unfortunately, he’d only gotten more involved in crushing on the boy after hearing him sing in a solo during their school’s spring concert. He was convinced that the eighth grader was one of the only decent singers in their whole chorus (Minho and Seungmin were way better than they’d ever admit to, and he had been told he was good as well) when he heard the heavenly rendition of Imagine resonating through the shitty auditorium. Those acoustics helped absolutely no one sound better and Woojin had still managed to shine brighter than some professionals. Some people would say they found a certain lovesick boy crying in the toilets after the performance but as Changbin staunchly claimed in his defense: “bitches ain’t shit.”

Chris’ feelings only got stronger after that, but his being a seventh grader crushing on an eighth grader put a time limit on confession. He had gathered all his courage to just walk up to Woojin and ask him out on the last Monday of school, but he panicked. The poor boy found himself throwing up in an empty classroom while Hyunjin rubbed his back and calmed him down, just talking softly and singing a little.

The next year was spent trying to get rid of the crush since Woojin was off in high school. He’d been mostly successful, losing himself in his dreams of being a music producer and planning his courses for the next year, but he’d made one crucial mistake that cost him months and months of careful crush dissolving; he forgot about puberty.

And boy howdy, did that screw over his emotions in more ways than one.

Chris had crawled through the hell of middle school and readied himself for 9th grade, but all that went to waste when he found his long-term crush greeting the freshmen at orientation. He had grabbed Minho’s hand in a panic and focused on _not_ hyperventilating, and resolved to just watch him during the presentation. Minho always paid better attention to things anyway, and he could explain the content later.

Woojin looked even better than he had a year ago, in Chris’ eyes. He was a sophomore now and not seeing him for so long had made a certain freshman pine even more. Making a mental note to tell Seungmin later, he tried to focus on the presentation but couldn’t find the willpower in him to look at the screen. So he continued to ogle the sophomore and let himself forget what they were supposed to be doing. Needless to say, Chris’ crush had been rekindled.

That year had passed in a bout of stress, much more work that the previous year, and many instances when Chris would bump into people for lack of watching his step. He’d argue that there wasn’t that many times that it happened but he knew Minho could refute any of that. It wasn’t like he _tried_ to stare at Woojin, but he was always in the same hallways at him, and they had lunch at the same time a lot. They were in algebra together, for fucks’ sake, he couldn’t be expected to not take the chance to ~~examine his face~~ work up the nerve to talk to him. He hasn't even made his presence known to his crush yet, but he didn’t mind learning the subject material by himself at home so he could tell himself he’d build up that courage one day.

To make matters even worse for his weak heart, Woojin was on the football team now too. He didn’t see him after school that often since he was more involved in the music program, but he would go to all the games he could. “It’s to get the whole high school experience,” he’d told his mother when she asked about the sudden new interest. It didn’t matter that his face would glow bright red when she asked how the games went, or that he had yet to come out to her. He decided to wait until he could get a boyfriend before he actually told her he was bi; until then, he had to settle for watching a bunch of sweaty guys play football for two hours every week.

Enter sophomore year for Christopher Bang, and with it schoolwork by the tenfold. He still hasn't gotten himself to talk to Woojin Kim, the football team’s star player, but he had started making music with Changbin again since their schedules were similar again. He finally had more than one friend to talk to in school and enjoyed his classes; pre-calc wasn’t doing him any favors though, his heart still rushing to race each time he entered and saw the result of fate’s utter lack of respect for his well-being. Woojin never did anything but just sit there, paying attention to class, but he still looked better than Chris ever would.

“He’s doing what you _should_ be doing, Chris.” Seungmin looked pointedly at him one lunch when he was busy ranting about – what was it this time? Woojin’s shoulders, or his biceps? Whatever it was, he’d been going off for ten minutes and neglecting his lunch. The freshman had been over his friend’s gushing about five months prior, when school had started. “It’s a wonder you even passed midterms, do you even care about that class?”

Chris rolled his eyes, somehow managing to take his eyes off the junior to reply. “I’m doing fine, the concepts are super easy to learn and I stay after with Mx. Lawrence when I need help. I’m not gonna fail or anything, Min, don’t worry.” And with that, he went back to staring across the cafeteria. He’d learned to not attempt to eat pasta without looking after nearly dropping his tray in October. Woojin had spilled water on himself and Chris didn’t want to look way too creepy. It was a big mistake on his part, but he didn’t choke to death on the bowties so he counted it as a win.

“Okay but look at his fucking arms–”

-

Seungmin shook out of his reverie and tuned back in to the reality of a lovesick Chris watching Woojin joke around with some freshman in the chorus. He knew him to be friends with Jisung, that squirrely kid Chris had found over the summer to join Changbin and his Soundcloud account; it was something about a rap group? He’d introduced himself as Jeongin, and Seungmin resolved to start off his sophomore year by annoying the cute new boy. When he didn’t get a response from calling Chris’ name, he decided to kickstart his bothering.

Waltzing over to the attractive pair, he rolled back his shoulders and schooled his expression. Jeongin waved at him, a friendly smile on his face that told Seungmin he was about to run into a wall of pure, unadulterated Emotion™.

“Hey, my name’s Seungmin!” _So much for seeming like a cool sophomore_ , he winced. The other two smiled wider, both being so much cuter than what was healthy for anyone’s heart.

Jeongin decided to take his heart and destroy it even more with his lilting giggle. “Hi,” he smiled (Was it possible to break a melted heart? Apparently so, Seungmin concluded.) and waved. “I’m Jeongin, nice to meet you!” He looked so damn huggable, the fuck? The redhead waved back and grinned. Chorus was already shaping up to be much better this year.

Woojin smiled at the two, always happy to see the freshmen fitting in with the school. “I’m Woojin, in case you didn’t know,” he joked, greeting Seungmin. He noticed a blonde kid joining the sophomore, muttering something to him under his breath. Was that French? Unnamed didn’t look him in the eye, choosing to pinch Jeongin’s cheeks instead while he complained and wriggled away. _They must know each other outside of school_ , Woojin mused. He sat down on the risers and patted the seat next to him for Seungmin to join him.

“You were in the chorus last year too, right?” The senior clarified, trying to keep the conversation flowing. “I remember you nearly got the spring solo last year?”

“Yeah, I’ve been in chorus for as long as I can remember. That one’s the reason I continued,” he pointed out the blonde who was currently latched onto a whiny freshman, “into high school though. I play on the varsity baseball team, so I like to think I’m pretty well rounded.”

Woojin perked up at that. “Oh, I do football! I’m the captain this year,” he stated proudly, conveniently ignoring Chris melting at his every action.

Seungmin sighed at the ~~stupid idiots~~ oblivious kid and replied to Chris’ horror; “Yeah, I know.”

“Hm?” Tilting his head, Woojin questioned the exasperated comment.

“My friend thinks you’re hot.” Smack!

“Fuck _off_ , Seungmin!” Evidently, the friend Seungmin had mentioned was Unnamed, if his indignant response was anything to go by. “I’m so sorry for him,” he continued. “I hope he didn’t make you uncomfy or anything.” He didn’t deny it, which definitely made the football captain feel better about himself.

“It’s alright, it’s not like I don’t swing that way.” _Wait, was that okay to say? Too late now, I guess._ Unnamed froze in his spot, not even blinking, before dashing back off to his old place on the risers.

Safely all the way across the room.


	2. an update in the life of the author

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not a chapter lmao

Sup nerds? I bet you're wondering how I can have an authors note so early on in writing this. Truth is, I had a change of heart. 

The facts of the case:

  1. I truly failed at formatting this fic, as I just sat down and started writing without a true plot in mind.
  2. I wanted to re-write this chapter but I realize that by making changes people might get confused.
  3. My narration is not at its peak right now, because I didn't choose a freaking person to zone in on this time.



So, in light of these points, the jury has made a proclamation! I've decided to re-write this whole thing, but not by the means of deleting this. I like the way my tags look and I don't want to delete your comments; they mean so much to me. Instead, I'm thinking of writing the New and Improved™ version of this by my own and then I'll post that, orphan this, and add the link to the real thing to the end of this chapter. It might take a bit of time but I wanted to make this whole thing one chapter, since it's not a very complex idea, and I really don't want to abandon it. This is the best thing I've written (in my opinion lol) and it's doing well!

This is a not goodbye. This isn't even a "see-you-later," not at this point. I'll be back in a few weeks with a much better storyline; at least, that's the plan. 

Maybe it is a "see-you-later".

Either way, ciao for now! I hope you'll wait for this to return (I'll bring it back under the same name and orphan it under something else) <33333

 

P.S.: To curve any confusion - THIS IS NOT BEING DISCONTINUED!! It can also still just be read as panicked gay Chris being a full-ass mess, but I'm definitely writing the rest of this. It's just a formatting issue, and I don't feel right making you all read the first bit all over again. If this solution is over-the-top and anyone has a better one, toss it up in the comments! I'd love to do this a different way, cause I won't be able to track it on Orphan. Love y'all!


	3. CHANGE OF PLANS ALERT ALERT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO I JUST HAD AN IDEA HEAR ME OUT LOVELY READERS

hi it's me agaain lmao the annoying author i know i said that was it for this fic bUT HEAR ME OUT

so ther'es gonna be hella typos in this caues its not really that late but ive had a d a y and i wanted to say this now before i back out like the fucking pussy i am so 

i had an ideaTM 

so yall there's bsupoose tho be more ships in this write? bcaues i'm a slut for ships lmao but yeah this was gonna turn into one huge thing but i want to make this woochan-centric cause that's the vibe i got from this idea but i have an idea for a misung thing that'd happen in the same high school and probably the sam year so i'm gonn a do that and this is gonna be a S E R I E S biTCH! 

i'll fix tohes spelling mistakes later i'm typing really fast and staring at hte keyboard and i honestly could'mt care less about how bad this looks tell me what you think please i need BVALIDATION THAT WASN"T A TYPO I JUST DONT HAVE THE FREAKING EMOJI INMAGINE THERES A BIG B IN A RED BLOCK INSTEAD OF THE BV IN BVALIDATION

alrighty it bye time cause ya boi has H o m e w o r k and i'm wtiting a smaller fluffy thing to tide-over until i can write this little thing in ape vake 

yeeting off,

\- me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow that's a lot of typos,,,
> 
> a list of corrections:  
> \- again*  
> \- there's*  
> \- cause*  
> \- supposed*  
> \- to*  
> \- right*  
> \- because*  
> \- minsung*  
> \- same*  
> \- gonna*  
> \- those*  
> \- the*  
> \- couldn't*  
> \- writing*  
> \- tide over*  
> \- ape vake = april vacation
> 
> that should be it, comment thoughts please!


End file.
